


moments of inbetween

by orphan_account



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:08:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25167463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: 5 times Shane and Ryan fell asleep together accidentally, and the one time it wasn't on accident.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 14
Kudos: 253





	moments of inbetween

**Author's Note:**

> Title: moments of inbetween  
> Alternative title: how many times can I use (and misspell) the word 'ridiculous'
> 
> There's like, one or two swear words here and mentions of sex, but nothing really explicit I think?
> 
> This is like, the fourth fic I've posted that's centered around sleeping, but it's okay... (I do think this will be the last one in a while though).
> 
> Once again, thanks to Grammarly for editing my absolutely atrocious grammar and spelling.

**\- 1 -**

He didn’t really mean to fall asleep with Ryan all those times, it just sort of kept accidentally happening. And sure, he was used to having Ryan sleeping, or at least try to sleep, beside him on shoots, but they had never fallen asleep _together_. Not even after a drunken night out; they always ended up in separate rooms, one on a couch and the other in a bed.

The first time it happened was on the way back to LA after an Unsolved shoot in Illinois. They had been up until five in the morning because they had to sleep on hardwood which was really bad for Shane’s back, and Ryan kept squeaking and screaming at the wind and the house settling, claiming there was ghost poking his cheek or stomping around in his ghost boots or something ridiculously stupid like that.

They left two hours later, and by then Shane was barely able to keep his eyes open. He went through security in a sleep-deprivation induced haze and had to be nudged by Mark when he started to walk in the wrong direction to the terminal.

Then they had finally gotten on the plane - Shane had the aisle-seat because his legs were long - and Ryan sat pressed up beside him, warming him up like his own personal heater. Ryan, despite having more muscles than Shane could ever dream of, was still somehow soft, and something about the heat and the softness and the pressure from him beside Shane, pressed from head to toe, reminded Shane of times when he would fall asleep with Obi beside him. The plane started up with that familiar hum, and it was all that was needed to lull Shane into sleep. His head was on top of Ryan’s by the time the plane started to roll out from the terminal.

They woke up four and a half-hour later to TJ shaking them. The plane was nearly empty, and Ryan jumped away from Shane like Shane was on fire which, he was not gonna lie, hurt a little bit.

Ryan refused to meet his eyes for days after that, which Shane found even more ridiculous than the ghost-stomper, but there wasn’t really anything he could do with it. He knew Ryan was uncomfortable with intimacy, especially when it came to guys, and Shane wasn’t about to force Ryan to talk about something he didn’t want to talk about. If falling asleep with his head on top of Shane had been that bad for him, then so be it. Shane would just suck it up.

**\- 2 -**

The second time it happened was in a rental car. They were on the way to an Unsolved shoot in Arizona, and since they had to be there before eleven, they were up way too early in the morning, early enough that it was still dark when Shane left his apartment.

Shane took the first shift of driving, mostly because he wanted to get it over with, but also because Devon and Ryan, who were his car-buddies of the day, looked like they were on the edge of death and he didn’t really want to put his life in the hands of that.

As he navigated the unusually empty LA-streets, he had a lot of time to think, due to everyone still being asleep. Ryan had said they needed to drive because a plane ride wasn’t in the budget, but they had traveled by plane shorter distances. He wondered maybe if Ryan didn’t want what had happened on the plane to happen again, and the thought made him a lot sadder than he should have allowed it to, so he threw it away, cramming the feeling into a little box in the back of his head where it wouldn’t bother him.

When Shane had done his shift, he switched with Devon, climbing into the back, claiming he did it because it was easier to sleep in the back - in reality, it was because Ryan was in the back and if Shane positioned his body and head right against the window, Ryan would be in his eyesight.

He hadn’t counted on falling asleep quite as fast as he did, but one minute he was staring at Ryan, following the lines of his face and the shadows that fell under his eyes, parallel with his eyelashes. And then suddenly his eyes were closed, but he could still see Ryan perfectly on the back of his eyelids. When he woke up again, Ryan’s head had somehow landed in Shane’s lap, his upper body twisted in a way that did not look comfortable.

Then he noticed that Devon had stopped and was staring at Shane through the rearview mirror.

«I was just about to wake you guys up. It’s Ryan’s turn to drive.»

Shane didn’t miss the little flash of smugness in her eyes but brushed it aside. He was very aware of what his coworkers thought about his and Ryan’s relationship. He also had a suspicion that there was a betting pool going around, but he tried to not look too much into it. He didn’t need to know how close his coworkers thought he and Ryan were to fuck.

«Dude, wake up, it’s your turn,» Shane whispered, shaking Ryan’s shoulder.

When he turned his face up, Shane could see some drool dripping down his chin, and his hair was absolutely messed up. Still, there was a sort of beauty in the way Ryan only opened his eyes halfway, looking up at Shane with a sleepy smile, something close to adoration playing in his eyes. Shane wondered what it was like to mess his hair up like that, to make his lips glisten like that.

«Huh, what? Oh!» He shot up, and Shane didn’t mention anything, still transfixed by the mental image of Ryan’s lips pink and swollen and shiny.

They didn’t mention it at all, and except for a few flushed looks in the rearview mirror, Ryan made no sign that he either enjoyed or disliked waking up in Shane’s lap. At least it was progress.

**\- 3 -**

Then it happened again that same weekend. They went out for drinks to celebrate finishing up filming of the last episode of the season, and Ryan got really, really drunk. The kind of drunk where he was barely able to stand on his own two feet, the kind where he definitely wasn’t able to find his way home by himself, so Shane did the smart and responsible thing as Ryan’s friend and asked if he wanted to sleep over at Shane’s place instead. It was closer anyway, he reasoned, ignoring the hope blooming in his chest.

Ryan was three sheets to the wind and Shane hadn’t really expected him to say no anyway, but he hadn’t expected the big grin or the hug that followed. Ryan muttered something about Shane being a really good friend and Shane wasn’t really sure whether it was Ryan’s words or Ryan hugging him or him just being really drunk that made his breath go shallow.

Ryan didn’t really let go of Shane until the car was there, and it was a nice change of pace for Shane who was used to Ryan always being careful not to be too close Shane. Ryan’s hands and proximity did a much better job at keeping Shane warm than what his jacket did, and when he let go of Shane to climb into the car, Shane mourned the loss of contact. But then Ryan climbed in after him and claimed the middle seat, pressing his whole side up to Shane.

He nuzzled into Shane’s side, and Shane was too drunk to even start to analyze the way he felt hot all over, the kind of hot where it felt like electricity was buzzing right beneath his skin and not the feverish kind that alcohol did to him.

When they finally got home to Shane he managed to slur out «I’ll take the couch,» starting to walk towards the couch in his living room.

«No,» Ryan said and tugged on Shane’s arm, making him stumble back towards Ryan.

Normally he would protest, but he was too tired and too drunk and Ryan was pressed up really close to him again which turned Shane’s thoughts to white noise. So instead he let Ryan pull Shane to his own bedroom like he owned it.

They said nothing as they pulled off their jeans and shirts - letting underwear stay on - before both crawled into Shane’s larger-than-normal bed to meet in the middle. And if maybe Ryan turned around and pressed himself up against Shane’s chest, and Shane let his arms wrap around him, pushing Ryan even closer to himself, then nobody but them needed to know that.

When Shane woke up, it was in the same position that he had fallen asleep in, and Ryan pressed up to him was somehow able to push that inevitable hangover away from Shane’s consciousness for a little while. But then he had to go to the toilet, so he carefully extricated himself from Ryan without waking him up and tiptoed to the bathroom.

When he came back to the bathroom, Ryan was gone, but Shane could hear him in the kitchen going through the fridge. Shane didn’t comment on how this whole ‘staying the night in bed with each other’ was new when he joined his friend in the hunt for food, and it seemed like Ryan had the same thought, because he didn’t say anything either. He left after breakfast, and the empty apartment seemed a lot more empty without Ryan’s sleepy smile occupying it.

**\- 4 -**

Shane forced himself not to think about the night they spent together. Not because he thought there wasn’t anything to think about, but because he was afraid of where those thoughts would lead Shane. Because even just remembering that night brought a smile to his face.

He just couldn’t turn around and give Ryan the lovey-dovey eyes because he knew what it was like to sleep with the shorter guy curled up to his chest.

Ryan didn’t seem bothered by it - which was kind of surprising coming from Mr. Pillowwall - but that just strengthened Shane’s belief that he shouldn’t fret about it too much.

Then they were somehow roped into one of those ‘Handcuffed To My Bestfriend for 24 Hours’ videos Buzzfeed was such a big fan of, and suddenly Shane was linked to Ryan by some flimsy steel, not able to walk even three feet away from him.

Ryan, who was the one who had accepted the video to start with, did not seem worried and that worried Shane a little bit. Not only was it very out of character for Ryan not to repel any physical intimacy with Shane, but Ryan also had this _glint_ in his eyes that Shane only saw right before he was about to introduce some real Underwater Area 51 type theory.

The day went by surprisingly fast, but by the time evening set in, Shane’s brain was cooked. Work was exhausting enough on its own, but now he had been so acutely aware of exactly what he did at any second because what he did affected what Ryan did, and also because he was infinitely worse at doing stuff with his left hand than with his right hand.

They decided to stay at Shane’s place for three reasons; A) Shane had Obi that he had to take care of, B) Ryan had roommates and C) Shane’s bed was considerably larger than Ryan’s.

It took some time getting ready for bed, Shane’s exhaustion making him uncoordinated and bad at problem-solving. By the time they were getting ready for bed, Shane’s brain had gone blissfully silent.

Shane thought that maybe he had a Moment with Ryan when they brushed their teeth, which was confusing because Shane and Ryan didn’t usually have Moments like that.

The thing was, he missed his mouth a lot, which led to a lot of tooth-paste where it wasn’t supposed to be, AKA his chin and cheeks and every time some more dribbled down his mouth, he caught Ryan stare up at him with a part fond and a part disgusted look. And maybe he was a bit sloppier than needed just because he felt his stomach flip every time he caught Ryan looking at him like that.

But then when he was done, maybe he purposefully missed most of the spots trying to wash the toothpaste off, leaving him with an even whiter chin - maybe if Ryan hadn’t been too busy staring into his eyes like he was trying to find universes there, he would have made a joke about Shane not being able to get any whiter - and Ryan cupped Shane’s cheek and wiped away the toothpaste with his thumb.

They never broke eye contact, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he was able to sympathize with whoever had to edit this footage for having to go through so much awkward staring. But then he was too focused on the way Ryan’s thumb lingered a little longer at his bottom lip, the way his eyes flitted down for just the tiniest of a second before meeting Shane’s again, to care.

And then he just… dropped his hand and stepped half a step away (because he wasn’t able to get further away), and Shane was just a little lightheaded from the tingles that erupted from the place Ryan had brushed his thumb to actually form a coherent thought. Shane wondered what it would be like to let Ryan kiss him and touch him.

They didn’t really talk the rest of the night, other than for the camera to film an end of the day report, and then they crawled into each other’s space and fell asleep.

When he woke up, his right hand was sore and aching from being in a weird position the whole night because of the handcuffs, and he could feel Ryan’s breath on his naked chest. It sent flutters all the way down to his stomach, leaving a trail of goosebumps from his arms to his thighs.

Ryan woke up not long after Shane, and they didn’t talk about how Ryan’s lips had been pressed to Shane’s chest or the fact that Shane was tingling all the places Ryan had been squeezed against him in the night.

They went to work with hidden smiles and got the god-awful handcuffs off and filmed an outro and went on with their day. Shane had a mini freakout because he realized that he didn’t want the handcuffs off because then he didn’t have an excuse to be close to Ryan or hold hands with Ryan or tug Ryan closer to him. He wanted to fall asleep with Ryan every night, and when he wasn’t careful, he caught himself coming up with schemes to let that happen. He wanted to fall asleep with Ryan every night, and he was scared about what that meant.

**\- 5 -**

That evening he went to the grocery store to get the ingredients for his favorite dish, spent some extra bucks on that Good Wine, and decided that instead of having a breakdown, he was going to eat good food and maybe get a little drunk on wine and fall asleep happily buzzed.

Except when he was halfway through the bottle of wine and a few beers and he was tipsy - bordering on drunk - there was a knock on his door. He opened the door to a Ryan who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, eyes wide, cradling his backpack in his arms. It was a look Shane was well acquainted with, one that signaled either agitation or excitement. If Shane wasn’t quite as focused on the way his heart was beating out of his chest, he would probably have been able to figure out which one it was today.

Ryan didn’t wait for Shane to invite him in, just burst in through the door and sat down on the couch, connecting his laptop to the TV that had been playing a nature documentary about blue whales, leaving Shane to close and lock the door again.

As Shane got settled without a word, Ryan took a swig of Shane’s wine, and he didn’t have it in him to protest or be offended because he really liked spending time with Ryan and him drinking probably meant he was planning on staying for a while.

«So, I was just editing this footage from Illinois when I came over something I think might be the strongest evidence we have ever gotten, and I just couldn’t wait for Monday to show you,» Ryan finally explained as he was fast-forwarding through some of the footage of Shane yelling at thin air.

Shane raised an eyebrow at Ryan and took a swig from the wine bottle. «Isn’t that what you say every time?»

Ryan stopped and turned to him, squinting his eyes and fiddling with the remote. «What?»

«The evidence - isn’t that what you say every time? That it’s the strongest we have gotten?»

Ryan’s cheeks tinted pink, and he really looked pretty like that. Shane had to take a deep breath before he shook his head. «No, I’m serious now,» and then; «are you drunk?»

Shane threw his arm over the back of the couch where Ryan was sitting faced towards Shane. He leaned in, squinting at Shane’s face again and cocking his head to the side, and it took all of Shane’s willpower to not lean the few inches forwards to kiss him.

«Not drunk, just tipsy. Now show me this ‘strongest evidence of all the evidences’.»

«Hey, I never said that, don’t put words in my mouth!» Ryan exclaimed, but pushed play anyways, smiling crookedly at him, like they had a secret to share. Shane wondered what that secret would be.

It was Ryan during their one-on-one time in an abandoned cabin they had been in. He was freaking out, like usual, screaming and spinning around to point his flashlight at a corner of the room. Ryan paused the video again.

«There! Did you see it?» He asked, his eyes wide in that eager way Shane was used to.

Shane - who usually liked to prove Ryan wrong - did for once _not_ want to disappoint him. Maybe it was because he was getting fuzzy around the edges, and Ryan looked like a Greek god sitting on Shane’s couch, bathed in the golden light from the sunset. And it was such a cliché to call Ryan a Greek god, but with those arms and those strong fingers and a slight sheen to his skin from a long workday and okay, maybe Shane was a bit drunker than he let on.

«I… think so?» It was the best Shane could do without lying.

Instead of the predictable fallen face he expected, Ryan squared his shoulders and seemed determined to convince Shane. He rewinded the video and pressed play again, standing up in front of the TV to point.

Ryan spent almost forty-five minutes presenting and trying to show Shane his evidence. Shane, who was getting sleepy from the full stomach and wine and comfortable presence of Ryan, let him continue. Even offered some of his dinner, which Ryan accepted with a pleased groan. Shane tried not to think of that groan in another setting, because then he would have a bigger problem on hand than his sudden feelings for Ryan.

They settled into the couch while Ryan ate, turning on the nature documentary Shane had watched before Ryan came barging in, but he might have been too busy staring at Ryan to know what was going on.

Then, when he had finished eating and had gone out with his plate, returning with a beer from Shane’s fridge, it was clear he wasn’t going back to his apartment, which Shane was a little too happy about.

And maybe if it had been a month earlier and Shane hadn’t already woken up with Ryan pressed up to him four times already, he probably wouldn’t have put his arm around Ryan’s shoulder and pushed him to his chest. But he did, and Ryan didn’t even say anything or act startled, he just sighed content and put his head on Shane’s shoulder, taking a swig of his beer.

Shane woke up with a crick in his neck and Ryan on top of him, his head on his chest. It was still dark out, and the TV was asking if he was still watching.

His phone revealed that it was one in the morning, so he sighed and shook Ryan. It didn’t even occur to him that the natural thing to do would be to let Ryan sleep on the couch, like all his other friends who visited did.

«Don’t you want to sleep in a bed?» Shane whispered to Ryan when Ryan groaned and snuggled closer to Shane.

He shook his head, and Shane chuckled but started to lift Ryan anyways. He wasn’t strong enough to actually carry him, but he could get him up on his feet and force him to walk, which was exactly what he did.

Right then it hit him how bizzare it was that he was so used to sleeping with his best friend he didn’t even question it. The thought hit him like a freight train and made him freeze up for a second. He looked over to Ryan, wondering if maybe he had the same thought, but he seemed relaxed and sleepy as he climbed into Shane’s bed. He watched as Ryan’s lips softened into a smile and his eyes fluttered close, and all thoughts abandoned him.

He crawled into the bed and fooled himself into a world where it felt normal, where his heart didn’t skip a beat when Ryan pushed himself up to his chest, or where he didn’t think that his arms fit perfectly around him as he circled Ryan’s waist.

He fell asleep almost as fast as he had woken up, and the last thing he could remember thinking was how good Ryan smelled, his nose pressed into the crook of his neck.

-

Something was different. Shane was on the wrong side of his bed, and he was sleeping on his back, and he was a lot more comfortable than he usually was after a night of good wine, which was really what made him think something was wrong.

There also was something on top of him that was _not_ Obi, and he tried to remember if he has brought someone home, but he hadn’t been that drunk and he was certain the only other person who had been in his apartment last night was Ryan. Oh… _Ryan_.

Shane wondered whether Ryan would wake up and pretend nothing had happened. If he would continue this dance they’d been doing the last couple of months. But mostly he thought about how Ryan’s breath hit Shane’s neck, making shivers go up his spine and how Ryan was draped over Shane like a blanket, his legs tangled with Shane’s, and his arms around Shane’s stomach, his fingerprints burned into Shane’s sides.

Ryan stirred, and Shane held his breath and hoped that he wouldn’t wake up quite yet. He wanted to stay like this; warm, happy, comfortable, just a tiny bit longer.

Ryan didn’t wake up, and Shane allowed himself to tip his head down to stare at the top of Ryan’s head, then over it to his body laying across Shane’s. Shane’s sheets barely covered him, and in the diffuse daylight streaming in through the window-curtains, Ryan’s skin looked glowy and pretty.

Okay, so Shane was true and well fucked. He wasn’t sure when he had realized it, maybe right now or maybe the first time they fell asleep together on that plane or maybe somewhere in all the moments inbetween, but he was truly gone for Ryan. And he had to do something about this because he couldn’t be in love with his best friend and co-worker.

Ryan stirred again, and once again Shane held his breath. When Ryan stilled again, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

He allowed himself a minute more of just existing in the bubble of inbetweens and wakeups and rising daylight. Then he gently poked the top of Ryan’s head.

«Hey, buddy, wake up. I have to go to the toilet.»

Ryan obviously wasn’t ready to wake up yet, because he looked up at Shane with his mouth half-open and his eyes half-closed, looking about as confused as Shane had been when he first woke up.

«Wha-ghh,» Ryan mumbled, probably trying to say ‘what’ but being too sleepy to actually mutter any words.

«Toilet, I have to go, and you’re kind of on top of me so…» Shane said, trying to fight the fond smile threatening to emerge on his face.

It took a couple of seconds, but it finally seemed to hit him, and he looked down at Shane’s chest with widened eyes. Shane wanted to cup his cheek and force him to look up at him, make him understand that Shane wasn’t bothered at all, but he suspected that Ryan didn’t really worry about what Shane thought.

«Oh, yeah, sorry,» he mumbled, then rolled off Shane.

Shane immediately felt cold, in more ways than one, but what was done was done. So with a sigh, he hauled himself out of the bed, goosebumps standing up on his arms and legs from the cold air.

Before he walked out of the door, he turned around and looked at Ryan who was laying in the same place, his head buried in the pillow but his eyes focused on Shane.

«Will you… Will you stay?» Shane asked, and he could very well hear the pleading tone of his voice, but he had no control over it.

Ryan was silent for a while, his eyes studying Shane. Shane thought maybe it was too much, that this was what would drive Ryan out of his apartment and out of his life.

Shane was surprised by how much that thought hurt. He had never been one to dwell much over relationships and broken hearts. Especially not when it wasn’t even a relationship. He’d mope for a few days, then he would get over it and he would be fine. He knew though, if he were to lose Ryan, he would most definitely not be _fine_.

«Y-yeah. I think I’ll stay,» Ryan muttered.

Shane shot him a grin, feeling that lump in the back of his throat dissolve, and then he turned around and hurried to the bathroom.

Shane had probably never been that fast ever before, but he wanted back to his bed and the warmth and Ryan as fast as possible, so he managed to do his business, brush his teeth and feed Obi in under five minutes, and then he was back in his bedroom.

Ryan was still in the same place, and Shane did not hesitate before he slipped back under the covers. He did hesitate to wrap his arms around Ryan though, but once he did, Ryan made this small humming noise and wrapped his arms around Shane again, and Shane let himself enjoy this inbetween where his friendship with Ryan had somehow evolved into something _more_. Not a relationship yet, just more.

If he was standing up, that thought would definitely knock him to the ground…

Oh god, he was _swooning_ over Ryan.

«Shane,» Ryan whispered against his chest.

«No.»

«Shane, we should probably talk about this.»

«No, please, just. Just let us have this moment, just for a few minutes more,» Shane pleaded.

He wasn’t sure what would come of their conversation, but he knew he was not ready to let go of Ryan yet.

«Okay, okay,» he whispered.

They laid like that for a little while, listening to each other's breaths and enjoying each other’s company. Whenever a thought popped up about how Shane had never cuddled with any of his other friends like this; shirtless, sleepy, soft around the edges, he pushed it away.

But their bubble had to burst at some point, and Ryan seemed pretty anxious to talk about it, so Shane let him go and pushed himself a little away from him so he could look into his eyes.

«So…» Ryan trailed off.

Shane smiled a little. «So.»

Ryan laughed, his eyes crinkling up. «This is ridiculous.»

Shane just shrugged, and he was about to respond but then suddenly something was blocking his mouth. Something warm and wet and _oh…_ Ryan was kissing him. _Oh_ , he should probably kiss back.

His mouth moved on its own accord, and he let his arms wander up Ryan’s hips, eventually cupping his biceps, and Ryan’s ‘ridiculous’ bounced around Shane’s head because this was ridiculous. It was ridiculous that he was so aware of how their legs were tangled together and how his hands cupped his cheek and neck and how his tongue was soft and his skin felt like it was on fire but in a good way and and _and_.

He almost felt like he would pass out, but then Ryan pulled back because oh, they apparently had to breathe too - which was really unfair by the way, because Shane really didn’t want Ryan to pull away and he would curse the air a little extra the next time they were on a shoot and he had to scream at «demons».

«Shane?» Ryan asked, and Shane had to really concentrate to look up at Ryan, away from his lips that were shining just like that time in the car.

«Ryan.»

«Do you regret this?»

His tone was indifferent, casual, but his shoulders tensed up and Shane knew his heart was beating miles a minute and his stomach was going up in knots.

«No, I really cannot express how much I don’t regret this,» Shane whispered back, and then he leaned into Ryan again, kissing him.

«Do you want to stay one more night?» Shane asked when he had to pull back again (damn you air). Shane hoped Ryan could hear everything else he was asking: ‘ _will you run away from this? Or will you talk to me, reassure me that this is what you want? Will you stay?_ ’

Ryan laughed again, and Shane appreciated the way he did so with his whole body, his chest vibrating with it and his hands automatically going up to his face.

Shane shut him up by kissing him, and Ryan laughed a little bit into his mouth, but he quickly focused again, and Shane thought that maybe, maybe, this would all be okay.

He sure hoped so.

**\- +1 -**

They spent the entire day - except for when they Postmated some food - in bed, giggling and kissing and watching shows on Shane’s computer.

Then night came, and their kisses turned a little more heated, and then they turned a lot more heated, and it wasn’t long until Ryan had Shane pinned beneath him, naked and panting and moaning Ryan’s name over and over.

Afterward, they hopped into the shower, and because they could, they had some fun in there too.

It was way past midnight when they finally felt tired enough to actually go to sleep, and Shane was giddy (although he would never admit that) with the thought that for once he would fall asleep with Ryan in his arms and wake up with him without being afraid about what that meant for their friendship.

«You know, I thought I would be the one who was the squirrely and emotional one in this relationship, but it turns out it’s you,» Ryan murmured as soon as he was settled in Shane’s arms, Shane surprised at how fast this had become second-nature for him.

«Excuse me, I am not squirrely or emotional. I am a perfectly rational, human being,» Shane protested and chose to ignore the implication that Ryan apparently had thought about them in a relationship before.

«Right. That’s why you said ‘I love you’ about ten thousand times while I had my hand wrapped around your dick earlier,» Ryan snorted and Shane felt himself flush a little bit.

«I do have a tendency to say that to anyone who has their hand wrapped around my dick.»

Ryan shook his head, and Shane could feel his laughter against his chest like earlier that morning.

Ryan didn’t say anything else, which Shane was happy about because he found he wasn’t able to argue against Ryan right now, and then it all just kind of quieted down until the only sounds were their breaths and Obi on the other side of the door begging to be let in.

«I don’t regret it either,» Ryan whispered when Shane was already half-asleep.

Shane let out a hum, the only sound he could manage, but somewhere deep in his head he was happy that Ryan had said it. Because that really cemented it, made it clear that Ryan was still going to be there when the sun rose the next morning, still in Shane’s arms.

And that was a comforting enough thought to send him into sweet dreams, Ryan following not long after.


End file.
